Sav, I was also surprised by Jack Schweibold's assessment of the various LOH contenders. How could he not immediately fall in love with the little OH-6? It turns out the early YOH-6 had some serious vibration problems with the main rotor. Maybe Hiller had their machine dialled-in very early on in proceedings and it flew the best of the three at that time. Jack Schweibold went on to set one of the 23 world records that the OH-6 would claim in 1966. As the LOH contest progressed, the Bell OH-4 was eliminated quite quickly. At selection time, the Hiller and the Hughes were deemed to be both broadly equal in quality and it came down to the lowest bidder. Despite Howard Hughes' shenanigans in winning the LOH, perhaps the best helicopter at that time won and thankfully it spawned the large family of 500s that many love today. Sadly, it seems, the FH1100 was the big loser in the end.
Thanks as well for the information in relation to the heliborne American Ambassador to Ireland. Fascinating stuff.
500 Fan.